This invention relates to a latch assembly usable with a lock adaptable for use on inswinging outswinging, right handed and left handed mounted doors, and in particular to a latch assembly wherein the latch will always retract the bolt irrespective of the direction the hand operator is rotated and wherein the bolt may be extended to a deadlatch position.
Doors controlling ingress and egress to and from a room or similar space may be either left hand or right hand mounted, that is to say the hinges of the door may be located at the door's left edge (left hand mounted) or the hinges may be mounted at the right edge of the door (right hand mounted). In addition, doors may be either outswinging or inswinging, that is to say that the doors are designed to close on outward movement of the door relative to the occupied space (inswinging) or designed to close on inward movement of the door relative to the occupied space (outswinging). Thus, it is readily apparent that there are four possible mounting schemes for doors.
In some instances, latch assemblies that are usable with one or more combinations of door mountings may not be usable with one or more of the other possible combinations of door mountings. The foregoing requires manufacturers and sellers of such latch assemblies to maintain separate inventories of latches to accommodate all four door mountings, and in addition, requires the purchaser of the latch assemblies to be knowledgeable with respect to the specific door mounting. Most consumers are not so knowledgeable and in instances where the same latch assembly can not be used for all four door mountings, it is just as likely that the consumer will obtain the wrong latch assembly as the correct one.
Latch assemblies are typically designed to either be extendable within the door strike for 3/4 of an inch or 1 inch (known as the deadlatch position). Further, latch assemblies may be designed to either retract the bolt of the assembly when the operator (a key, thumbpiece, doorknob, lever, or the like) is rotated in a first direction , or may be designed so that the bolt is retracted by the latch when the operator is rotated in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The problem discussed above with respect to latch assemblies and the four types of door mountings, is particularly manifested in latchbolt assemblies wherein the bolt is extendable into a deadlatch position and the latch is operable to retract the bolt when the operator is rotated in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to manufacture a single latchbolt assembly which can be used with either inswinging, outswinging, right hand or left hand mounted doors. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a single latch assembly capable of use with any door mounting and wherein the latchbolt can be placed in a deadlatch position and the latch will always retract the bolt irrespective of the direction of rotation of the operator.